Sheet feeding apparatus



Jan. 20, 1959 c. H. BAUER 2,869,869

' SHEET FEEDING APPARATUS I Q 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 17, 1955 Z74INVENTOR.

CHARLES H. BAUER Jan. 20, 1959 c. H. BAUER 2,869,869

SHEET FEEDING APPARATUS Filed May 17, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 '1 2/ t i a225 I Z4 I m Z5 a llim unlmm ,5 I z; 27 /6 km INVENTOR.

CHARLES H. BAUER 20, 1959 c. H. BAUER 2,869,869

SHEET FEEDING APPARATUS v 3 Sheets$heet 5 Filed May 17, 1955 IN V ENTOR.

LES HPBAUER CHAR 1477' E/VEV opposite side.

' movement by that closed side.

SHEET resume APPARATUS Charles I-L'Bauer, Northridge, Calif., assignor,by mesne assignments, to, international-Business Machines Corporation,New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application May 17,- 1955,Serial No. 508,912

2 Claims. (Cl. 271-36) This invention relates tosheet feeding apparatusand particularly to'apparatus for'feeding cards at high rates of speed.

Modern high speed computers perform their computing functions at veryhigh rates of speed, making a great many computations in a second. inmany cases, the factor which limits the speed of "such a computer is thespeed with which data for the computations can be supplied to it. One ofthe most convenientways of-supplying data-to a'computer is to supply iton punched accounting cards. In such an arrangement, the speed of thecomputer is limited by the'speed with which the punched cards can be fedto it. Feeding rates of the order of thousands of cards per minute maybe handled by the computer, the limitation on the card feeding ratebeing the rateat which the feeding apparatus can operate.

In feeding and handling cards-at such high rates, one of the mostdifficult problems is the prevention of burring or deforming of the cardedges, which may result in jamming of the cards, or'in'errors in thereading of the cards in the computer.

An object of the presentinvention is to provide improved mechanis'mforfeeding sheets, such as cards, at very high rates.

Another object is to provide card feeding mechanism of the typedescribed including improved means for separating individual cards froma supply stack and improved means for rapidly accelerating theindividualcards after their separation from the stack.

Another object is to provide improved means for separating individualcards from a stack.

Another object is to provide means for rapidly accelerating a sheet orcard.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention are attained, in theapparatus described herein, by providing improved means for separatingindividual cards from a stack, and improved means for acceleratingseparated cards. Two different card separating means are provided. Onecard separating means includes a hopper having a gate equal in thicknessto one card at one side of its discharge end, and a somewhat wideropening at the In order to drive the cards through the gate withoutburring or otherwise deforming their edges, the cards are first drivenaway from the gate a short distance and then back through the gate. Thecards are driven by a starter wheel which frictionally engages the endcard in the stack. The starter wheel is operated alternately in oppositedirections in accordance with a predetermined cycle, by'which a cardengaging the wheel is first backed away from the gate and then drivenforward through the gate.

The second apparatus for separating individual cards from the stackincludes a hopper which'at its discharge end has an opening extendingthe full width of the card and the greater part of the length of thecard. The end of the card at the closed side of the'hopper is heldagainst A buckling roller runs continuously'agains't the end card, nearthe free end aten ice

a thereof, and is driven in a direction tending to move that free end ofthe card toward the fixed end. The card, being unable to move as awhole,buckles in the middle, and its free end is carried around the peripheryof the buckling roller and bent out to a position spaced from the stackof cards.

The individually separated cards produced by either of the two cardseparating mechanisms described above are then accelerated by amechanism including a pressure roller and a cam roller adapted to engageopposite sides of a card after it has reached a position spaced from thestack by the'action of one of the card separating mechanisms described.The cam roller has a recess extending around a substantial portion ofits periphery. The card separating mechanism is synchronized with thecam roller and is effective to feed a card between the 1 two rollers ata time when the recess is adjacent the pressure roller. The camroller-thereby engages the card first at a point spaced inwardly fromits edge, and does not burr or deform the edge.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent froma consideration of the following specification and claims, takentogether with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a somewhat diagrammatic perspective view illustrating one formof card feeding apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 1a is a fragmentary sectional view showing the hopper outlet gateof the apparatus of vFig. 1;

Figs. 2a to Ze'are diagrammatic illustrations of the sequence'ofoperation of the apparatus of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic illustration of the driving mechanism and geartrains which are connected to the starter wheel in the apparatus ofFig.1;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentarydiagrammatic illustration of a detail of theapparatus of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a somewhat diagrammaticrperspective view of a modified form ofsheet feeding apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention;and

Figs. 6a to 6d are diagrammatic-figures illustrating the sequence oroperation of the apparatus of Fig. 5.

Figs. '1 to 4 The apparatus of these figuresincludesa card hopper 1,inclined downwardly toward ,itsdischarge-end and having extendingalongits topedges a pair of rails 2 on which rides a weighted car 3,having an extension 3:: which projects downwardly in back. of the stackof cards 4 in the hopper. The extension 3a pivotally carries a shoe 5which engages the upper end of the stacked cards and holds the stacktightly together.

The lower end of the hopper isv provided on its bottom side with a gate6 which is just slightly wider than the thickness of one card, as bestseen in Fig. la. For cards .007 inch thick, a gate .010- inch wide wasused. The upper side of the hopper is open to a depth substantiallygreater than thethickness of one card. It is shown in Fig. 1 as beingcompletely open, but it should be understood that the apparatus willWork as well if the opening is only as wide as, for example, thethickness of two or three cards.

The lower end face of the hopper 1 is provided with an opening 1a. A.starter wheel '7 isjournaled ona suitable support (not shown) so that itprojects through the opening 1a and engages the card.4 at the bottom endof the stack. The surface of wheel 7 is covered with suitable frictionmaterial, e. ,g. ,rubber, so that-as it rotates it will move theJendcard in the stack, the friction between the wheel and the card beinggreater than the friction between that card and the next adjacent card.

aseaeea The wheel 7 is driven by a motor 8 (see Fig. 3) through acomplex train of mechanism including a Geneva mech anism 9 and adifferential gear 10. The differential gear 10 has a direct input shaft11 and a second input through a bevel gear 12 fixed on a hub 13 which isrotatable on the shaft 11. Shaft 11 drives a spider 14 carrying bevelgears 15 which engage the bevel gear 12 and also engage a bevel outputgear 16 fixed on an output shaft 17 which carries the starter wheel 7.

Shaft 11 is driven by the motor 8 through a direct drive including areduction gear 18. The hub 13 has fixed on it a gear 19 which is driventhrough the Geneva mechanism 9. The Geneva mechanism 9 includes a wheel20 carrying a pin 21 cooperating with slots formed in a Geneva wheel 22.The arrangement is such that on each revolution of wheel 20, the Genevawheel 22 is advanced one-quarter of a revolution, that advance takingplace during one-quarter of the revolution of wheel 2%, so that wheel 22is stationary for the other three-quarters of a revolution of wheel 20.Note that in the construction shown, the pin 21 enters and leaves theslots in wheel 22 tangentially. Consequently, wheel 22 is acceleratedand decelerated slowly at the beginning and end of its movement, and hasits most rapid movement when the wheels 20 and 22 are in the positionsshown. Wheel 22 v is connected through a gear train schematically shownat 23 to a shaft 24 carrying a gear 25 which engages the gear 19.

The ratios of various gear trains are selected so that during the timeswhen the Geneva wheel 22 is not turning, the motor 8 is driving thestarter wheel 7 in a forward direction, so as to advance a card throughthe gate. When the Geneva wheel 22 starts turning, it is effective todrive the gear 19 so as to cancel out a portion of the driving movementimparted through shaft 11. As the speed of the Geneva wheel increases,the starter wheel 7 stops and, as the Geneva wheel reaches its maximumspeed, the starter wheel is driven backward for a very short distance.As the Geneva wheel decelerates, the backward movement of the starterwheel 7 slows down, stops, and resumes its forward movement.

It has been found that a gate such as the gate 6 may tend to burr theedge of a card if an attempt is made to drive the card forward withoutthe initial backward movement described. Apparently when a card first ismoved into alignment with the gate, its edge may not completely clearthe edge of the gate, due to the frictional drag of the hopper wall onthe card edge. However, the slight backward movement described iseffective to bring the card into complete alignment with thegate. Thesecond sheet acts on the edge of the end sheet to force it into completealignment with the gate.

Just outside the gate 6, cards leaving the hopper 1 encounter a pair ofopposed .rollers including a pressure roller 26 and a cam roller 27. Camroller 27 is pro vided with a recess 27a shown as extending one-quarterof the way around its periphery. Various lengths of recess may be used.If the roller is run slower, two or more recesses may be used. As bestseen in Fig. 4, the pressure roller 26 is supported on a shaft 28journaled in bearings one of which is shown at 29, loaded by springs 30,so as to force the roller 26 yieldably into engagement with cam roller27. The movement of the roller 26 toward cam roller 27 is limited by apair of brackets 31 which engage a portion of the structure of bearings29. The elfect of this arrangement is that when the recess 27a isopposite the pressure roller 26, the rollers 26 and 27 are substantiallyspaced from each other. Al-

ternatively, the cam roller 27 can be stead of the pressure roller 26.

Cam roller 27 is synchronously driven with the starter wheel 7. As shownin Fig. 3, this synchronism may be accomplished by driving roller 27from motor 8 through, a reduction gear 33 and shaft 32.

spring mounted in- 4 Operation-Figs. I to 4 This operation isdiagrammatically illustrated in Figs. 2a to 2e. In Fig. 2a, a card 4 hasjust come into engagement with the starter wheel 7, which is at thisinstant stationary, having just been stopped by the movement of theGeneva wheel 22. In Fig. 2b, the starter wheel 7 is reversed, and isdriving the card 4 away from the gate 6. For cards .007 inch thick, areverse movement of .015 inch was used. The wheel 7 reverses again anddrives the card forward at a low speed until its edge clears the gate.In Fig. 2c, the starter wheel 7 is turning rapidly in the forwar ddirection thereby driving the card 4 through the gate 6. The cam roller27 is synchronized with the starter wheel 7, so that the recess 27:; isnow opposite the pressure roller 26. The leading edge of the card 4therefore moves into the space between the rollers 26 and 27 and is notforcibly engaged by any portion of those rollers. It is preferred tohave the motion of the cards stopped before the rollers 26 and 27 startaccelerating them, although this is not absolutely necessary.

In Fig. 2d, the cam roller 27 has turned further, and the end of therecess 27a is engaging the card 4 somewhat back of its leading edge. Therollers 26 and 27 are about to start accelerating the card 4 rapidly.The rollers 26 and 27 can accelerate the card to its full operatingvelocity in about A; inch of card travel without damaging the cards.

In Fig. 2e, the first card 4 is being accelerated by the rollers 26 and27, and the starter wheel has returned to the position which it had inFig. 2b, and is reversing the second sheet of the stack so as to carryit away from the edge of the gate 6.

Figs. 5 and 6 I These figures illustrate a modified form of sheetfeeding apparatus, including accelerating rollers 26 and 27 similar tothe corresponding rollers of Figs. 1 to 4, and a somewhat different typeof mechanism for separating the individual cards from the stack.

In Fig. 5, a hopper 35 is shown as extending horizontally, and having astack of cards 36 within it. Pressure is applied to the left-hand end ofthe stack, as viewed in Fig. 5, by any suitable mechanism, indicated inFig. 5 by the arrow head 37.

The right-hand end of the hopper 36 is open for the full width of thecards and for somewhat more than the lower half of the length. The upperportion of the end card 15 restrained against movement by a plate 38.The sides at the top of the hopper have flanges 35a overlying the endsof the cards. These flanges and the plate 33 cooperate to prevent upwardmovement of the end card in the stack. Near the bottom of the end card,there is located outside the hopper 35 a roller 39, fixed'o'n a shaft 49which is journaled on a suitable support (not shown). The surface ofroller 39 is covered with friction material. This roller runs in contactwith the end card in the stack, and engages that card with an upwardlydirected frictional force which is greater than the friction betweenthat card and the next adjacent card in the stack. This frictional forcetends to drive the end card upwardly, but since its upper end isrestrained, the card cannot move upwardly, so its central portionbuckles as shown in Fig. 6a. The lower end of the card then follows theperiphery of the rotating wheel 39, and is carried outwardly away fromthe stack in the hopper 35, as shown in Fig. 6b. The acceleratingrollers 26 and 27 are located just to the right of the starter wheel 39,so that as the end of a card passes over the top of the 1 Wheel 39, asseen in Fig. 6]), it snaps to a position illustrated in Fig. 60, wherethe end of the card lies between the accelerating rollers 26 and 27 Therollers 26 and 27 are synchronized with the starter wheel 39, so thateach card 36 has its end snapped between the accelerating rollers 26 and27 at a time when the recess 27a in roller 27 is opposite the pressureroller 26.

The apparatus of Fig. 5 has the advantage that it can they are suppliedto the machine. Such burrs might cause difficulty at the gate 6 in Fig.1.

As in the case of Figs. 1 to 4, the accelerating rollers seize the cardat a locality spaced from its edge so that the edge of the card is notburred or deformed by the accelerating operation. The accelerating phaseof the movement of card 36 is illustrated in Fig. 6d.

While certain preferred embodiments of the invention have beenillustrated, other modifications thereof will readily occur to thoseskilled in the art, and it is therefore intended that the invention belimited only by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A sheet feeding apparatus comprising a hopper for receiving a stackof sheets and including at least three side members adapted to guiderespectively three edges of the sheets in the stack, and an end memberadapted to engage the fiat surface of the sheet at the discharge end ofthe stack, one of said side members having a gate opening adjacent saidend member extending the full width of the sheet and having a dimensionin the direction of sheet thickness greater than the thickness of onesheet and less than the thickness of two sheets, the side of the hopperopposite said one side member being constructed to allow movement of thesheet at the discharge end of the stack away from the gate opening, astarter means in ,frictional engagement with the sheet at the dischargeend of the stack, and means for driving said starter means at asubstantially low rate of speed in a direction to move said end sheetfirst in the direction away from the gate opening and then in thereverse direction at a similarly low rate of speed toward said opening,said end sheet being then guided by the next adjacent sheet, said lowspeed reverse movement continuing until the bottom edge of said sheetclears the edges of said opening, and thereafter to move said sheet insaid reverse direction at a substantially increased and rapid speed,said starter means being adapted thereby to feed at least a portion ofsaid sheet through said gate opening.

2. A sheet feeding apparatus as defined in claim 1, in which saidstarter means includes a sheet-engaging wheel in frictional contact withsaid end sheet, and said driving means includes a diflerential gearhaving two inputs and an output, motor means, means connecting one ofsaid inputs to said motor means for concurrent rotation therewith, aGeneva mechanism, and means including said Geneva mechanism connectingthe other of said inputs to said motor means to move said other inputintermittently in an opposite direction to said first input, meansconnecting said output to said sheet-engaging member, said differential'gear and said two connecting means cooperating to gradually accelerateand decelerate and reverse the movement of said Wheel and thereby ofsaid end sheet.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,063,336 Duncan June 3, 1913 1,901,832 Milmoe Mar. 14, 1933 1,909,910Elliott May 16, 1933 2,185,014 Elliott Dec. 26, 1939 r 2,569,692Rockwell Oct. 2, 1951

